Old Soldiers Never Die
by gypsy season
Summary: After the war, will their lives ever be the same?


Old Soldiers Never Die

By Multicolored Gypsy

She waited outside the door, a woman in her seventh decade of life, her hands clasped firmly together. Every so often she would glance at the door, even though she couldn't see it. She had been blinded in an accident near the end of the war, nearly forty years ago. She remembered an explosion and feeling as if her eyes were on fire. Red was the last thing she ever saw.

She never saw the end of it all, the end of their struggles, the end of their pains, their fears, the very thing that they lived to see; their freedom. No, she didn't see it, but in truth she never would have even if she hadn't been in the accident. It was the accident that saved the world, so to speak.

If it hadn't been for her, the man who was prophesized to hail the destruction of the machines, the man she loved, would have died. Who was she then but one more person fighting for the freedom of the human race?

Ever since that one fateful day, she had never seen another thing again, but her efforts saved the life of the one man she lived for. She had been taken to a makeshift hospital to be treated while the fighting continued. The doctors tried to save her eyesight but she had arrived too late, the fire had burned too deep.

She lay on the bed waiting for endless hours for some news, some information on what was going on outside. She wanted to be back out with them fighting for freedom, but she couldn't see anything. She was blind. Finally, when she was so sure she would go insane, she heard people cheering. It was faint at first, from far away, but the cheers grew louder and louder until it sounded as if they were right outside her room.

People were laughing, screaming, crying tears of joy. She waited, slowly going mad with curiosity, for how long she didn't know. But when she heard explosions outside, she jumped off the cot she was on and ran, frantically looking for a door, a window, an exit. She ran onto a wall and tripped over a chair, but she had to get outside to find her lover, her soul.

She was sobbing by then, frantically trying to escape, when she felt his hands upon her face, his arms wrap around her body and hold her close; she'd know his touch anywhere. Her body trembled with pain and fear as her free-falling tears caused a great pain in her burnt eyes.

"W-why are there explosions?" She whispered, her voice breaking. "We have to get out!"

"No." He said, guiding her head down onto his shoulder with his gentle hands. He caressed her gently, trying to calm her body, which was shaking with harsh sobs. "No, Trin. It's fireworks. We're free."

She looked upon that moment as the first day of the rest of her life. The machines weren't attacking - the free humans were setting off fireworks. It was her first day as a free human, her first day as a blind woman, a blind, helpless woman.

And He was always there for her, always guiding her with his hands, his soothing tone telling her everything was going to be alright, that _they_ were going to be alright. For almost forty years they lived happily together, which brings us to now, as she sat outside the hospital room, experiencing a feeling she was quite used to by now; a feeling of nervousness nagging at the back of her mind, bringing up worst-case scenarios which, no matter how hard she tried, would haunt her until she knew what was happening.

The door creaked open and she reached for her cane. She looked up to where she guessed the doctor would be standing and put on a fake smile. She could almost sense his nervousness as he cleared his throat. Nearly forty years of being blind made her more skilled with using her other senses. She didn't ask to be blind; it is what fate had given her, like it had given her Neo, who was the One merely because she loved him.

The doctor cleared his throat once more before attempting to deliver his news lightly. "I just finished with your husband, and…"

"Come on," She spoke, trying to stay calm, already knowing what the doctor was going to say. "Say it." She clutched her cane tightly, as if it was all she had to keep her from crying out.

The doctor hesitated. "I'm afraid I have some bad news…"

She was found dead in the cemetery lying atop his tomb, her fingers just touching the stone which bore his name and death date. How she had managed to find the tomb was a mystery - the woman had been blind for nearly forty years and it was a very large cemetery. Could she have had someone help her? No, the cemetery attendant saw her go in alone.

She never cried that day, when Neo died. No, she wasn't sad at all. She was relieved. They were soldiers all their lives; from when they chose the red pill to their deaths. It was their destinies and they had no choice but to fulfill them.

When she was found, she was buried next to Neo, her tombstone placed beside his, their caskets touching. Everyone knew who they were. They were the ones who saved the human race. Trinity's loved gave Neo life, Neo gave humans freedom. They lived on forever, their names coming to mind when anyone mentioned the human race or anything like it, because if it hadn't been for them, and their love, humans would have been made extinct.

Their names became two of the most popular children's names, and in every book that was ever written had their names written in the dedication. People cherish life. Death always seems to come too soon. Whenever someone dies, they are always mourned, always to be remembered in their families.

Neo and Trinity were soldiers, like many others. And like all the ones that fought for freedom, their names would live on forever. Preserved in memory, old soldiers never die.


End file.
